


Hallelujah Nights

by SorryICantBeWhatYouNeed



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-15
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-18 17:55:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 18,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13686816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SorryICantBeWhatYouNeed/pseuds/SorryICantBeWhatYouNeed
Summary: Gavin's been having a rough few weeks with the end of the school year coming so his friends decide to throw one last epic party to cheer him up.





	Hallelujah Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I meant for this to be a short little thing but as usual it got out of hand real quick.  
> I heard the song Hallelujah Nights by Lanco for the first time a few weeks ago and this story played out like a movie in my head. Country music isn't for everyone but I definitely recommend giving it a listen!  
> Happy Anniversary to Mavin!

Everyone had bad days. 

Either the kind of bad day where you wake up late and miss the bus, or you fail a test, or you get dumped. 

Or the extra bad days where you can’t find the energy to pull yourself up out of bed, and you can’t make yourself eat breakfast even though you forgot to eat dinner the night before, or you tell your friends you have to detention so you don’t have to hang out with them after school because the thought is exhausting and you just want to take another nap. 

Gavin was having a series of extra bad days. 

As the school year came to a close and final project assignments were being handed out and people crammed for tests, Gavin found himself stuck in bed each morning. Instead of bouncing up at the first tone of his alarm and going to take a shower he was hitting the snooze button until he was on the verge of missing the bus and had to throw on the nearest pair of dirty, but clean-passing, jeans and a hoodie before rushing out the door. 

He’d sit on the bus in silence, staring out the window as the green grass in people’s yards started to come back with the warm weather, gardens being tended to by parents watching their kids get on the bus and leave them with some peace for the day. They always looked so happy, so content in their own spaces and lives. 

And then the school day would pass in a blur. He’d sit in boring classes that made his eyes droop and he’d try to answer questions on quizzes and homework but he’d find himself doodling in the margins instead. 

Then lunch would come and Michael would be waiting by his locker, a shining beacon in the extra shitty day, all warm brown eyes and fiery red hair. He’d smile and hold out a bag from one of Gavin’s favorite restaurants and Gavin would try to grin back but it was weaker than the good days and Michael would just reach for his free hand and walk his best friend to the cafeteria where their friends waited. 

This was exactly how Gavin’s twenty-eighth bad day was going when Michael tapped him on the temple to bring him out of his head.

“You know what I think you need?”

“What?” his voice came out louder than he intended and caught the attention of the rest of their table.

He figured Michael would just say a boys night, or something easy and quick and sure to get Gavin smiling at least for a little bit. 

“A Hallelujah Night!” Michael declared, looking across the table to Jeremy who didn’t miss a beat before grinning back at him. 

“I second that!” 

Before Gavin could say anything everyone else at the table was holding up their various water bottles and milk cartons and cheering. 

A ‘Hallelujah Night’ was something Gavin created in his sophomore year of high school. He had been going to Jeremy’s big bonfire parties in the woods behind his house since the first week of Freshman year, but none of them had been like that one before. 

There was alcohol and dancing, big flames keeping everyone on edge for the moment a log might fall out and start something bigger, because it had, once. There were couples kissing, hidden in the trees and speakers and extension cords for at least two miles. 

This one though, was the first party Jeremy had thrown since his mother had passed away a few months before and because of that Gavin had called on the help of Geoff, Ryan and Michael to make it a special one. It didn’t take much to convince them though because they loved a good party more than anyone and soon Gavin was ditching the last two classes of the day with the boys to go get supplies and get to Jeremy’s before he himself did. 

They spent an hour hanging lights and setting up chairs and making sure they had all posted about it on every social media platform they had so they could make sure plenty of people were coming. They pulled out all the stops, getting good use of their fake ID’s and ordering enough pizza to feed three professional football teams. This one had to be huge.

And it was. More kids than ever had shown up, bringing more alcohol and more people in every car. There wasn’t a second of the night that Jeremy didn’t have a wide grin splitting his face in half. 

And when the clock hit two A.M those that remained were given baskets full of water balloons, super soakers full to the brim and split into two teams. They were released into the woods where screaming and laughing was sure to be heard way back in town but nobody complained. 

By six am as the sun was coming back out to greet the next day and the fire was down to the embers, bright red against black in the pit where only Geoff, Ryan, Trevor, Michael, Jack, Gavin and Jeremy remained. They were all full of booze and food, clothes soaked through and lazy smiles on their faces. 

“Guys,” Jeremy had said. “That was the most amazing night ever,” 

“Fuck yeah it was!” Michael held up his empty beer bottle and everyone else raised whatever they had in a silent cheer. 

“That was a Hallelujah Night,” Gavin said absentmindedly, lifting what was left of his drink to his lips and sipping slowly. 

“What does that even mean?” Trevor asked, blinking his eyes rapidly to see if maybe he had misheard Gavin in his tired, drunken haze.

“It means that was a ‘Praise whatever you believe in’ kinda night, I don’t know,” he shrugged. “It sounded good in my head before I said it. Shut up, I’m drunk,”

“I like that,” Geoff nodded. “To our first Hallelujah Night!” 

And they were rare, and no one else at the school knew they really existed, just that sometimes Jeremy’s parties were great, but sometimes, they were legendary and those that didn’t attend spent months gathering every little detail to feel like they had. 

“I don’t need a Hallelujah Night,” Gavin commented, pushing Michael’s pouting face away from him.

“Why not? You’ve done it for nearly all of us,” Geoff pointed out. 

It was true. Gavin was the only one that ever called for them, to plan them out to a T in an hour before sending out lists of supplies and invites. The second one they had done was for Geoff when his girlfriend of two years broke his heart to date the new football star. Geoff probably never would have left the house again if it weren’t for the amazing party they threw for him, starting with a movie projected onto a large sheet hanging between trees and ending with the boys around the bonfire again, each in a blissful sleepy daze declaring that Geoff didn’t need a significant other because he was too good for the world. There were a few more afterwards, one for Trevor and one for Jack, even one for Ryan who wasn’t really much of a partier to begin with, but on a Hallelujah Night he would put his wild hat on and let loose. 

“I’m fine,”

“You’re not fine,” Michael bopped him on the nose. “The school year is ending, the summer is coming and in the fall all of your friends, and your  _ best  _ friend that you love more than anyone, will be off at college, and you’ll be stuck here with boring old Trevor to finish your final year of high school,” 

“Hey!” Trevor yelled, throwing one of his stale cafeteria french fries at Michael. 

“Come on Gavin, we’ve barely seen you outside of studying.  _ I’ve _ barely seen you alone lately,” Michael placed a hand over his heart and Gavin felt a little guilty. 

Gavin hated when Michael read him so well.

He supposed it was normal though, after spending the last three years attached at the hip. Michael knew the meaning behind every look, every squeak and squawk, every damn breath. He read Gavin like he was a children's book with only one sentence on every page and Michael had invented words.    
Sure he had been pretty bummed out the last few weeks. He would go to Geoff’s with everyone and study for finals, work on big projects and powerpoints well into the next morning. They’d share a beer and watch shitty movies to keep themselves somewhat sane and it would be a great time. Until it was time for Gavin to go home and he’d walk back to his empty house and crawl into bed with the knowledge that once all the tests were taken, projects were presented and the year was done, so was all of this. All the late nights walking to the old elementary school playground and sitting on the swings with his friends, sharing tales of their childhoods and making plans for the next week, it was all over. Summer jobs would start and college reading lists would come out and people would start packing and some of them would be leaving sooner than others and their time together was slowly ticking to an end. 

He didn’t really talk about it to anyone, so on the rare occasion he was alone with Michael he would get strange looks from the other, long ones, and sometimes Michael would tilt his head towards him and grin and Gavin couldn’t help but smile back, but it was short lived and then he would look away, but Michael wouldn’t. Eventually he would move closer, place a hand over Gavin’s on top of the bed. “You okay?” he’d ask and he’d look so concerned and Gavin would suck in a breath before answering. “Yeah boi, I’m great,” and Michael didn’t like pushing Gavin because usually Gavin would talk about this stuff freely, but he knew Gavin was lying to his face and that had to hurt too. So while Michael hadn’t really said anything before, he was going to call it all out now.

It wasn’t like anyone was going particularly far away, most of them were going to school’s less than two hours away, but it wouldn’t be the same at all no matter how many times Geoff put him in a headlock and ruffled his hair and Michael promised him that he’d come visit every other weekend and they’d talk on the phone every night. Gavin just knew it wasn’t going to be enough.

Things had been going great since he met them all in Freshman year thanks to Geoff falling behind in math and getting partnered up with Gavin on the second day. Gavin still couldn’t believe that a sophomore had taken such a liking to him, inviting him and his only friend, Trevor, to sit with them at lunch and go to their parties. 

Now their group was shrinking, significantly, and Gavin wouldn’t be able to walk out of science and toward the English wing with Ryan and Jack, talking about whatever BS their separate teachers had plugged into their brain that day. He wouldn’t find Jeremy after gym class and walk toward the parking lot after school with him and he wouldn’t find Michael waiting at his locker with lunch and a smile that made it feel like maybe the world wasn’t completely ending.  

He had been dreading this time since the year began. 

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he said instead, lifting his burger to his mouth and taking a large bite. Everyone was staring at him, all a little worried and he knew it was his own damn fault. Gavin talked about everything, whined and bitched, praised and babbled no matter what was going on in his life. 

If he didn’t want to talk about something it was actually bugging him and after three years together all his friends knew what was up. 

“Geoff, Ryan, start posting,” Jeremy said finally and Gavin’s head snapped up to glare at him. “Don’t give me that look. This is gonna be the last party of the school year, whether it’s a Hallelujah Night for you or not, it’s gotta be big, but now we have a better excuse,” he smirked. 

“I hate you all,” 

“I already finished my fifth final,”

“I can skip mine, I already aced the class, it’ll just bring me down to an A minus,” Ryan shrugged. 

“And mine’s due next week,” Geoff nodded.

“Good, let’s go,” Michael announced, pushing away from the table and then they were gone, stalking across the cafeteria and smiling at the teachers that were on duty that day. Gavin knew as soon as they were in the parking lot they’d make a break for it, sprinting towards whoever had parked their car closest to the exit, leaving the others for later.

“It’s gonna be great Gavin,” Jack assured him, reaching over to pat him on the shoulder as the bell rang. 

He tapped his foot anxiously throughout his next class, knowing that when it was over he’d walk into the hallway and find tons of kids on their phones, whispering and gossiping about the party and if they were going or not, who they’d bring, what this one might be like. It happened every time there was a party at Jeremy’s. The messages would start slow, but when they picked up, they spread like wildfire. 

Sure enough when he opened the classroom door and entered the hallway he saw a group of girls huddled around their lockers with their phones glued to their faces, showing each other various tweets and comments made under one of Geoff or Michael’s posts. 

When they saw Gavin they froze, reaching up to mess with their hair and give him flirty smiles. Almost everyone would consider themselves one of Jeremy’s friends, and many actually were. Jeremy loved people, he loved making others laugh and making them feel at home in his own space, but to be one of Jeremy’s  _ best friends  _ was an honor not many people had. They didn’t get to stay at the party until the sun rose, they didn’t get to sit with them at lunch and they didn’t get to know the real Jeremy, the one that just liked to play games in his sweatpants and adored his girlfriend Kat more than he ever would anyone else. Gavin was used to this reaction by now. Everytime a party was announced he would be approached in the halls throughout the day, asked if there were any little details he could spill so people would know if it were really worth going, and to Gavin they always were, but some people had to be convinced. 

“Hey Gavin, big party tonight,” one of them purred. He fought the urge to roll his eyes too hard.

“Yeah, hopefully we’ll see you there,” he said easily. The girl looked a little angry, and Gavin wasn’t sure if it was because he wasn’t giving her the details she was obviously after, or because he didn’t sound interested in anything she actually had to say in the slightest. She just didn’t do it for him and he had no problem making that known.

“Is there anything in particular we should bring? Or wear? Or…” one of her friends, a girl with big blue eyes that made Gavin feel a little like she was staring into his soul and seeing his entire life in front of her, asked. 

“Nah, we got it all covered, wear whatever you’d like I guess,” he shrugged. “I’ve gotta get to class, see you tonight!” he turned on his heel before they could say any more and legged it toward the staircase where Trevor and Jack were waiting for him.

“Almost done,” Trevor whispered, slinging an arm around his shoulder. 

“This is stupid,” he grumbled. 

He hated having that much attention on him, and while he knew that no one at the party would be treating him any differently, he knew that his friends would be watching him throughout the night, trying to gauge if he was having a good time based on the things they had planned so far. To top it off he also hated surprises. He loved  _ planning  _ surprises, for other people. He liked standing back as things were revealed and discovered by his friends and by random strangers, cheering and holding their beers up in celebration of what was to come. Now Gavin would be on their side, waiting anxiously throughout the night for something to happen, waiting to see Ryan or Jeremy stealing a look his way, checking to see if he was smiling, if he knew that while this new addition to the party was available to everyone, it was only  _ for  _ him. 

By the time the final bell had rung and the kids were released for the day all Gavin could hear in the hallways were whisperings of the party, who people were bringing, what they should wear, who might hook up with who. When Gavin ran into Jeremy by his locker and walked out of the building he was already far over the whole thing. 

“Come on, I’m your ride today,” 

Gavin tried not to sulk any harder when they walked outside and he found that Michael’s truck was missing from the parking lot and that Trevor, Jack and Kat were all waiting by Jeremy’s car as well. 

“Don’t worry, you get to sit in the front,” Jeremy elbowed him in the side.

“I’m not making your girlfriend sit in the back with the boys,”

“You’re a good man Free,” Jeremy tried to pull him down into a headlock but Gavin was quick, skipping the final yew yards to the car and pulling at the door so Jeremy would get the hint and unlock it. 

Usually on one of these nights they’d all go to Jeremy’s to finish getting the normal party stuff ready, even the person the night was for because usually they were already done hiding everything. The other stuff, like the chairs and tables for food and the fire pit were to be set up by everyone because they weren’t as important, but when Jeremy turned left instead of right leaving the high school Gavin got confused.

“Missed the turn J,”

“Nope, I’m bringing you home Free,”

“ _ What?” _

“I have direct orders from a Mister Jones, telling me that if I bring you anywhere near my house before it’s party time, he will, and I quote, ‘chop your fucking dick off Jeremy,’ so you’re going home,”

“That’s bullshit Jeremy! I’m always-”

“Not today buddy,” 

Gavin didn’t even have time to properly pout before they were pulling into his driveway and Jack was giving him a pat on the back and telling him to go relax for a while. “Whatever,” he may have slammed the door a little hard but in his defense, his friends were all assholes. 

How could Michael of all people tell Jeremy to keep him away? He was Michael’s right hand man, he remembered all the little details that might’ve been missed in the planning, that might get left in Jeremy’s shed so they wouldn’t get all the way to the pit and then realize they had to walk back for something as little as a punch bowl or a bag of plastic cups. 

His parents weren’t home when he opened the front door, throwing his backpack into the hall closet and stomping up to his room where he laid face down on his bed for twenty minutes willing himself to fall asleep so maybe he could just miss the whole thing. 

Hallelujah Nights weren’t for things as silly as missing your friends when they left for college. They were for the bigger things, the heartbreaking ones. Sure he was sad about it, but he’d survive, he had no choice about it, they didn’t need to waste all their time and energy on something so trivial. 

He also knew though, that when it came to him Michael would always go all out. His birthday parties were always legendary, filled with scavenger hunts through the city or long roadtrips with the whole group but at least Gavin always knew when that surprise would be happening and was able to properly prepare for it for at least a solid month unlike today where he was given about eight hours notice. If Gavin mentioned that he was craving a certain food one day, the next day Michael would have it for him, if Gavin mentioned wanting to see a movie coming out soon Michael would show up at his house with tickets on opening night. 

Gavin both loved and hated him for it. 

He loved that there was someone so dedicated to him and his interests and someone that wasn’t afraid to grab his hand in a crowded room and walk him out and wrap an arm around his shoulder and accepted him wholeheartedly. Especially someone like Michael, who was known around the school as the boy with the loud angry voice and hard brown eyes, but Gavin never saw those, not once in the three years they had been friends, in fact he had also heard multiple people comment on how he was the calm to the storm. So when Gavin joined their group and fit in effortlessly with the boisterous sophomore it didn’t take long for him to fall head over heels in love with him. 

Gavin just wished Michael wasn’t so damn perfect and beautiful and kind and open and- yeah, he was pretty sure he hated him just as much as he loved him for all of that. 

He decided that now would be a perfect time to tell Michael too. 

He unlocked his phone and opened his messages before typing out, ‘ _ I hate you’  _ and hitting send before he could talk himself out of it. This was an insanely nice thing they were doing for him, but that didn’t stop him from being bitter at being exiled to his house for the afternoon. 

The response came almost instantly.

_ Be ready by eight. _

Gavin just sighed and tossed his phone across the room. 

~~~

It was eight oh three when Michael showed up at Gavin’s front door. Gavin opened it with a glare but was met by a familiar brown jacket hitting him in the face. 

“It’s gonna be chilly and I know you won’t bring a coat,” Michael grinned. 

“Another reason we shouldn’t throw a party, people might get colds,” Gavin said absently, sliding the jacket on over his black t-shirt. He had worn it plenty of times through the years but he always got a funny feeling in his stomach when he first put it on and he always had to look away from Michael’s intense stare. He tried taking his time making sure he had his phone and keys but as usual Michael was impatient and soon he was reaching for Gavin’s wrist and yanking him out of the house. 

“Come on, we put a lot of work into this, try to look excited,” he pouted. He put both of his hands together like he was praying and stuck his bottom lip out. Gavin would’ve thought he’d be immune to that look by now but it still made him melt and for a second he felt bad for being so moody. 

“Yeah yeah, let’s go,” he stepped around Michael toward the red pick up in his driveway but almost instantly found himself being turned around by a hand on his shoulder.

“Just… give it a shot okay? And if you really don’t enjoy it I’ll take you away,” 

“Away? What, are you gonna kill me?”

“If you don’t like all the hard work I put into this for you? Maybe. Or maybe I’ll just take you to your favorite diner and buy you cheese fries,”

“Ah, a man after my heart,” he placed a hand on his chest and sighed dreamily but when he looked back at Michael and found him watching him with a serious expression he rolled his eyes. “Okay okay, I’m sorry,”

“It’s okay, I just want you to be happy,” 

“Drop out of college then,” he joked, stepping away from Michael and heading toward the passenger side to signal he was ready to go.

“I will,” Michael said quickly and Gavin knew if he really asked him to he probably would. Gavin would never actually ask that much of someone though.

“Let’s go, we’re gonna be late,” 

“Okay,” Michael nodded and then the car was being started and they were on their way to Jeremy’s.

It was only a ten minute ride so Gavin turned the radio up and leaned back, watching the houses on his street go by in a blur and then the high school was in sight and Ryan’s car was the only one left in the parking lot and then it was gone and they were entering the all too familiar neighborhood that Jeremy and his dad lived in. 

There were cars lining the street and like usual Gavin was sent to get out and move the cones blocking Jeremy’s driveway from being used by anyone that wasn’t them and Michael was parking. 

If they were quiet for a moment Gavin could hear voices making their way through the woods, and music in the distance. He didn’t even want to imagine how many people were already there, and how many people were still on their way and who would show up later. He would just end up overwhelmed at the thought.

“Ready?” Michael asked, holding a hand out. Gavin took a deep breath and dropped his hand into it, nodding once and then they were heading around to the back of the house where lanterns marked the pathway for people that weren’t as familiar with the land as they were. 

“If there’s even one Taylor Swift song on the playlist I’m going to be taking you up on that diner offer,”

“Don’t worry, Ryan was very thorough in his search for only the best ‘Gavin approved music’.” 

“And that’s why he’s my real best friend,” Gavin teased.

“Hey!” Michael squeezed his hand. “I’ll have you know that the only thing Ryan did was the music, and Trevor just set up tables. I did all the heavy lifting,”

“Sure ya did,”

“It’s true! I got the- fuck. Whatever, you’ll see it soon enough. I’m not spoiling shit,”

“Come on Michael boi, just a hint,” 

They stopped talking for a second to make their way under the low branches that were known to smack people in the face on their way out back. Michael ducked first, tugging Gavin after him and when they were both standing tall again and stepping over the roots and rocks he finally answered with a big grin. 

“Nope,”

“We’re already here, there’s no need to hide it now,”

“Exactly, we’re already here, so you don’t need hints, you’re about to see it,”

“We have a long walk Michael, just tell me something,”

“I need you to use your imagination,” 

“I’ve been using it since lunchtime when you abandoned me. Did you know I had to sit in the back of Jeremy’s car with Trevor and Jack? It was horrible,”

“I heard all about it Pouty Pants,”

“Hey! It was reasonable,”

“Yes of course your Highness,” 

“When did you become such a bully,” Gavin teased, sticking his tongue out just in time to walk into a low branch that was usually just pushed back. He spluttered and shook his head, reaching up with his free hand to wipe at his face only to come away with a small drop of blood on his fingertip. “See, this party has already ruined me,”

“That was all you Gav, the amazing night that was generously planned out for you by your friends, had nothing to do with you walking right into something you should’ve seen coming after your literal millionth time here,” 

“I don’t think anyone has actually ever done anything a million times,” 

“Blink, maybe,” Michael pointed out. They had stopped in the middle of the path now and Michael was reaching forward with his free hand to rub at the small cut on Gavin’s face before bringing it back. “Well Gavin, I hate to tell you the bad news, but I think you might live just long enough to make it through the night,”

“And here I was praying for stitches,”

“Do a better job next time,” 

They started moving again and when Gavin looked straight ahead he could just barely see the light of the fire through the trees, slightly obstructed whenever someone would walk by it, making it dark for only a flicker of a second. Only a few more minutes and they’d be in the chaos of it all. 

“I could just throw myself in the fire,” Gavin said thoughtfully. Michael gave a light chuckle but stopped talking in favor of changing his grip on Gavin’s hand so their fingers were now interlocked and he could move closer, so their entire arms were pressed together while they moved. 

They did this all the time. They held hands, they spooned when they were sharing a bed, they cuddled at the movies and at school and were very open about their comfort in their friendship. This felt different though. Michael’s grip wasn’t painful, but it definitely felt like he was using it as a lifeline. Gavin could only assume that it was because Michael really wanted him to enjoy himself and Gavin knew even if the whole thing did turn into a disaster he would appreciate all the effort Michael put into it in such little time. 

They both knew the path by heart now. Gavin knew that in about ten feet there would be a large rock that had tripped many people up over the years, Gavin had even been the one to suggest painting it to glow in the dark so people would see it, it had worked for a while but after countless storms and people  _ still  _ tripping on it most of the paint was chipped away. He knew that right before they reached the party there was a thicket of bush that required extreme focus to step through without hitting any thorns, for those that didn’t come often enough. 

At his first party Michael had walked in front of him, telling him to watch his step here, and duck there, now they could both run the entire thing blindfolded if they needed to, but he still enjoyed when they’d take their time, a long walk with the heat of Michael against him, wrapped up in his jacket and scent, no rush what-so-over. 

“Hop on,” Michael’s voice broke him out of his head. Michael let go of his hand and stepped forward, squatting down as a signal for Gavin to jump on his back.

“What?”

“I can’t risk any more injuries so soon,”

They were at the bushes now and Gavin couldn’t help but laugh. He had long jeans on but he knew there was no use arguing with Michael now. He jumped on the redheads back easily and tried not to blush at how close Michael’s hands were to his bottom. He held on tightly as Michael started stepping his way through, only stopping once cause he got a thorn in his ankle leading to a series of whispered curses, and then they were both illuminated by the roaring fire and greeted by a bunch of kids Gavin recognized from school and some he didn’t. They held their cups up and yelled out the boys names, and Michael was quick to yell out a hello. Things looked pretty normal to Gavin from where they were. There was a table covered by various bottles of liquor and large cases of water stacked on top of each other and on another table were boxes on boxes of pizza and bags of chips and under that table was a large bin with more unopened bags for later and Gavin knew they were planning on making this one a crazy one. There were paper lanterns and white lights strung up throughout the area, even a little ways further into the woods for couples that liked to wander so they didn’t end up hurting themselves in the dark. 

Michael didn’t stand by the entrance long before he was walking towards where Geoff and Jeremy were sitting by a speaker. He still hadn’t put Gavin down by the time they reached them, only releasing him when Gavin started squirming against him and giggling. 

“Welcome Gavin Free, to your Hallelujah Night,” Geoff said quietly so people around them wouldn’t hear. “We have all of your favorite alcohols, with complimentary bronze colored solo cups because we couldn’t afford that many copper mugs,” he winked. That was all his contribution Gavin knew. Geoff didn’t drink anymore, deciding to get serious for college, but he still had a list somewhere of everyone else’s favorite drinks so that whenever one of them came to visit him at school he could offer them something they enjoyed while they caught up. 

“And if you look behind you there is a large hammock currently being taken up by a lovely sophomore couple, but that is also, for you,” Jeremy added. Gavin couldn’t help but bark out a laugh at that, turning to see there was in fact a large blue hammock hung up a decent distance away from the fire and party, guaranteed to be far enough away that you could actually have a quiet conversation with the person you laid in it with. Every time Gavin had been out here since the first time he had commented that Jeremy  _ had  _ to get a hammock eventually. It would really tie the whole place together so Gavin knew that had been where Jeremy got off to after school. 

“And!” A new voice behind him said. He turned to find Jack with his arm around his girlfriend, Caiti, a big grin on his face and a beer in his hand. “There’s a big bowl of skittles on the drink table, I can’t promise that other people haven’t been eating from it, but it’s for you!” 

Gavin couldn’t wipe the grin from his face now even if he tried. It was such a simple gesture, but whenever Jack held a movie night Gavin showed up with at least three bags of skittles so when he turned and saw an entire punch bowl full of them his heart swelled just a little. 

He hadn’t even noticed Michael walking away from them but a few seconds later he returned with a cup in one hand and a beer in the other. He offered the cup to Gavin who didn’t even need to smell it to know that he had made him a Moscow Mule.

“Alright, this is pretty cool,” he said after taking a large sip. 

“A success so far!” Jeremy clapped. 

The music cut out momentarily and people paused, turning toward where Ryan was sitting with his laptop but it was quickly replaced by one of Gavin’s favorites and he knew Ryan must’ve been waiting for him to arrive before he wasted all the music on randoms. They talked a lot about music and Ryan was very passionate about it so Gavin knew he must’ve been set on planning it out to every minute since they started. 

Normally Gavin did all the work, everyone else just followed his lead and did whatever they were told, rushing around town to different stores and restaurants to make sure they had everything, but this was a collaboration and Gavin definitely felt a lot of love from his best friends around him.

“Go enjoy yourself, there’s more to come later,” Geoff shooed him away. “Go dance with your friends,” Geoff nodded toward the bonfire people were dancing around. 

He didn’t have time to reply before there was a tug on his arm and Michael was bringing him over, standing on the edge of the crowd so Gavin wouldn’t be overwhelmed or get his drink knocked out of his hand from such close proximity. 

“So then boi, what did you contribute?” Gavin asked, brows raised.

“You expected me to contribute? I was just your ride,” he said easily, sipping his beer and turning away from the Brit. 

“That’s a load of shit,” Gavin laughed. 

“The night is young dear boi,”

“Yeah yeah,” Gavin rolled his eyes. While the song didn’t exactly permit slow dancing Michael still moved forward and wrapped his arms around Gavin’s waist, pulling him closer. Gavin could feel Michael’s beer bottle against his lower back and moved forward to put his arms around Michael’s neck while they just moved back and forth. No one spared them a glance though, all too used to it by now. Gavin should’ve been too, should’ve known the exact feeling of Michael’s hands on his hips and back, but still his skin felt hot through his clothes where Michael’s arms touched him and he found that while he loved wearing Michael’s jacket he just couldn’t do it if they were going to be standing so close together.

He pulled away and held his drink out to Michael with one hand, holding up a finger with the other to signal for Michael to wait a second before he took it off and rushed over to where Geoff was to drop it on his lap. 

“Stripping already? Doesn’t take much for you huh?” Geoff teased, folding the jacket and placing it next to him. Gavin flipped him off and turned away.

When he returned to Michael he blushed under his intense gaze. “Warm?”

“The fire is huge,” he said lamely. 

“We know you like them to last the entire night,”

And Gavin did, he loved when the fire would still be alive well into the next morning, so when he was tired and on the edge of passing out he could still enjoy it and then when the sun was rising it would have fallen to just the bright embers and they could all just take a deep breath and see each other from around the circle where they brought their chairs up close. He basked in the warmth it gave off and loved the loud popping sound it made whenever a log snapped inside of it, girls screaming and rushing away from the sparks incase it caught onto their hair or clothes. There were trash cans full of water by the food table, just incase it got out of hand but they had only needed to use them once a year ago when a log rolled out and almost lit a freshman girls pants on fire. Poor girl still hadn’t returned to another party.

“Don’t lose that jacket though, it’ll get colder later,” Michael scolded and Gavin couldn’t help rolling his eyes. Almost every time they went out at night Michael would keep a spare jacket or flannel on him because he insisted it would get cold and it rarely did, but Gavin still appreciated the gesture.

“Yes sir,” Gavin wrapped his arms back around Michael’s neck and the song came to a close, a much slower one playing so Gavin felt encouraged to actually slow down more, like he didn’t stick out as much now that everyone around them was doing the same thing. 

Michael pulled him a little closer, so their chests were only an inch from touching and while Gavin was taller than the redhead he felt small under Michael’s gaze, needing to look away from its intensity. 

“So far so good?” Michael whispered a minute later and Gavin snapped back to him, looking away from the cute couple in the hammock, staring up between the trees at the moon above. 

“So far so good, you should still take me out to get cheese fries soon though,” he had meant it as a joke but Michael nodded before he was even done speaking.

“I can bring you there tomorrow afternoon when we’re both hungover and hating our lives,”

“Works for me,” Gavin nodded.

“It’s a date,” Michael said quickly and before Gavin could turn red, or say anything, or look away from him Michael was pulling him closer so he could rest his chin on Gavin’s shoulder and their bodies were flush against each other. 

It could’ve been the fire only a few yards away from them that made Gavin feel like he was engulfed in flames, but he knew it was something else entirely. His entire body was warm against Michael and the spot on his neck next to where Michael was digging his chin into Gavin’s shoulder, while a little uncomfortable, was hot from where Michael’s little puffs of breath were landing on it. 

It was all Michael, but Gavin supposed it was always Michael. 

“You probably haven’t eaten yet!” Michael said suddenly, pushing himself back so he could hold Gavin by the shoulders. 

Gavin had a tendency to skip meals when he was nervous. It usually happened on party nights because he was so worried about people not enjoying themselves, but it was especially bad on Hallelujah Nights. 

“No,” Gavin replied sheepishly, looking away only for Michael to squeeze his arms and tug him toward the table covered in food.

“I’m not letting you get blackout drunk on us tonight. Eat some food and then you can finish your drink,” he plucked Gavin’s bronze cup from his hand and went to sit with Geoff and Jeremy when Gavin turned and found Meg and Lindsay standing by the table with him.

“Hey Gavver!” Meg grinned. “Great party, as always,”

He’d normally say thanks at a comment like that, but knowing that he had put no real work into this one made it seem wrong so instead he nodded his head once and smiled. 

“You ready for summer?” He asked when the silence got unbearable and Lindsay nodded, reaching for a plate and handing one to him.

“Hell yeah man. I’m going to Paris for a month,” she told him and Gavin’s eyes went wide.

“Lindsay that’s awesome,”

“Thanks,”

“Not that anyone cares!” Meg started dramatically, rolling her eyes and placing a hand over her head. “But I’m going to Japan for two weeks,” 

Gavin didn’t know how they could do it. They had been dating for two years now and were both heading to colleges in different states, he didn’t understand how they could spend so much of their summer apart and not completely freak out about it. 

“That’s going to be a lot of fun,” he said casually.

“Yeah, she’s been talking about going for years,” Lindsay smiled. Meg blushed and looked away, opening a box of pizza at the end of the table before grimacing at the pineapple on top and moving onto the next box. 

Gavin didn’t say anything else, choosing to step back while they filled their plates with pizza and chips. When Meg grabbed a handful of chips Lindsay watched carefully and after she moved on Lindsay would grab another and Gavin knew that it was because she knew Meg would want more and it melted his heart just a little. Like a perfect system.

“So Gavin,” Meg said when her plate was full. “What are you and Michael getting up to this summer?” 

Meg was the first person Gavin admitted his big crush to and she supported him wholeheartedly everyday since. Whenever she asked Gavin what his plans for the weekend, for a vacation, for a night, were, she always asked what he  _ and  _ Michael were doing because she knew they’d be together.

“We’re working together for a bit and then he’s off to college,” he shrugged. 

Lindsay joined them then, plate a mess of chips and pizza, but she didn’t seem to mind one bit and when Meg caught sight of all the extra chips on it she smiled and shook her head. 

“Well,” he said quickly. “I’ll let you two go enjoy your food and each other,” he wiggled his eyebrows earning a shove from Meg. “See you later?”

“Absolutely!” Lindsay beamed, stepping around him to find a nice place to sit. 

Gavin found himself watching them much longer after they had settled in, Meg curling up under Lindsay’s arm and stealing chips off her plate. Lindsay offered it up without hesitation, grinning at her girlfriend and when both of them were done chewing Lindsay was leaning forward to press a kiss to her lips. 

Gavin really hoped they made it. 

“There’s like five flavors, pick one,” a voice next to him said. He turned to find Trevor leaning against the table.

“Christ, you scared the shit out of me,”

“You’ve been standing over here for like ten minutes, I was worried you were malfunctioning,” he laughed.

Gavin rolled his eyes and opened a box of pizza, grabbing whatever was in it and dropping it onto his plate. “I’m fine, just… thinking,”

“That will be the death of you Gavin,” he wrapped an arm around his shoulders and instead of steering him toward Michael he brought him to where Ryan was sitting, laptop resting next to him on the ground with a bottle of water on his lap. His eyes were closed and he was bobbing his head slightly to the music playing. “Michael’s hogging you,” he said. He dropped down next to Ryan who immediately opened his eyes at the sound of his boyfriend’s voice and smiled up at Gavin. 

“Hey,”

“Hi,”

“I hope the music is to your liking?” 

“It is! Thanks,”

“I worked hard on it, I hope that you’ll book me for all your future events as well, I don’t do children’s parties though,” 

“Dammit, my son is about to turn five,” 

“He’ll have to wait until he’s fifteen to hear my playlist genius,” 

“Fifteen? Everything under that is a child? I thought thirteen was the end of the child years,”

“Hell no. My cousin just turned thirteen and she’s a trainwreck,” 

“So rude Rye-bread,” 

“I wouldn’t call it rude, just… truthful,” he smiled. 

The song faded into a new one and Gavin turned to find that even more people had shown up in the last few minutes, but no one was really paying much attention to them anymore since most people were already past tipsy. There were couples grinding around the fire and some bouncing up and down in little groups and Gavin was glad that everyone was enjoying themselves, himself included. 

“So,” Trevor started, “the night is young and you haven’t seen anything yet but!” he clapped his hands together. “Are you enjoying yourself so far?”

“I mean, I guess it’s okay,” he teased and when Trevor shoved at his shoulder laughing, Gavin knew that he could tell what Gavin really meant was  _ yes.  _

Or well… he was having a not  _ bad  _ time. 

He didn’t really know yet. There was still a lot of time left for him to be awake and there were plenty of people he still had to talk to and more drinks to be consumed. Things were going easy, nice, but as much fun as the night ended up being, he knew that in the morning things would still be the same and that was just something he had to live with. 

~~~

Gavin didn’t know how long he had been sitting with Ryan and Trevor, long enough that Trevor had gone to make them both drinks at least three times now and Gavin was definitely feeling a bit past tipsy. Mainly because Trevor didn’t fucking know how to make a light drink in the slightest and whatever he had made him this time was eighty percent vodka. 

Trevor was laughing about something Ryan had said about a sophomore trying to impress girls by the fire but Gavin had stopped listening a while ago. 

He caught Michael on the other side of the fire, skin alight and grin almost blinding. Gavin loved looking at Michael, that was just the absolute truth, but looking at him while he was completely at ease and unaware of the extra attention was Gavin’s favorite. 

He talked with people so easily, loud laugh being heard by everyone whether it actually disturbed their conversation or not. His eyes lit up, and not just because of the fire reflecting inside them, but because he was at least three beers in and a little loose. He was beautiful and Gavin never wanted to stop looking at him.

Except then Michael turned away from his conversation and his eyes fell directly onto Gavin’s who was quick to jump and turn back to Trevor and Ryan who were now curled up together, laptop forgotten next to them while the playlist went. They were huddled under Ryan’s jacket and so at peace and Gavin didn’t really know how they were going to do it either, they had been together since their freshman year, falling so effortlessly in love so fast. Ryan was going to college about an hour and a half away which wasn’t so bad but they practically lived together, did everything together. Gavin was sure there would be some separation anxiety but they both seemed fine. 

Ryan leaned over to press a kiss to Trevor’s forehead and a slow smile spread across the other boys lips, eyes staying shut as he snuggled closer. 

“Can I have him back now?” Michael’s voice said from above him. Gavin tilted his head back to find him upside down. 

“Boi!” he said loudly. He downed the rest of his drink and made to stand up but Michael’s hand on his shoulder kept him in place.

“You’re gonna get sick if you try standing up right now,”

“How do you know?” he asked. Michael smiled down at him and Gavin knew he sounded like an amazed toddler. 

“I’m gonna get you some water,” and then he was gone, walking past people to get to the drink table where he grabbed three bottles and came back, dropping one on Trevor’s lap too. “We’ve still got a lot to do so I need you sobered up in the next like twenty minutes,”

“What time is it?” Gavin asked. 

They hadn’t been there too long and the moon was still high in the sky. He was only expecting it to be around ten. 

“Almost midnight,”

“Well, shit,” Gavin sighed. 

“Yeah, time flies when you’re ignoring me,” Michael pouted.

“Aw boi,” Gavin reached for his wrist and tugged him until Michael was sitting down in his lap and he found that it wasn’t all too uncomfortable and Michael was warm and Christ, when did it get so chilly? 

“God, Trevor, we agreed not to get him drunk,”

“I have no control over him!” he said pointing a finger in Michael’s face. Michael just raised a brow and pushed it away. “You’re his keeper,”

“You’ve been making him drinks! Every time I’ve seen you in the last hour you’ve been at the table making drinks!” 

“Guys,” Gavin whined, wrapping his arms around Michael’s waist and burying his face in the redheads back. “No fighting,” 

“We aren’t fighting Gavin, I’m stating facts and Trevor can’t handle the truth,” he patted at Gavin’s hands on his stomach.

“Please don’t try fighting my boyfriend right now,” Ryan cut in. “He’s well on his way to drunk and doesn’t need to try using his nonexistent karate skills on anyone,”

“You love my karate!” Trevor placed a hand over his heart, offended. 

Gavin couldn’t help the laugh he barked out. They were always Gavin’s favorite couple to hang out with at parties, mainly because Ryan was always the voice of reason and Trevor was just trying his best.

“Then let’s put those skills to use later, I hope you’re sober enough,” Michael got off of Gavin’s lap, tapping the unopened water bottle in his hand and pointing at Gavin, silently telling him to start chugging. 

“Where are you going?”

“I got you a gift,” and then he was gone. 

Gavin turned to Trevor and Ryan who were now looking at something on his computer and then the music was cutting and people were looking around confused. 

“Alright, listen up!” Gavin turned to find Michael standing on top of a chair by a speaker. “Those of you that are still sober enough to be running around in the woods get to play a game. Those that aren’t should probably just lay down somewhere comfortable for a while,” 

Some people moved to get closer while others stumbled their way to the nearest chair or tree to lean against. 

“We’ve got some buckets full of balloons… full of paint! And before all you ladies run off scared, it washes out of clothes easily and we do have  _ some  _ white t-shirts you’re welcome to wear and keep, those of you that don’t give a fuck about your clothes, you’re my kind of people!”

Gavin loved watching Michael do stuff like this. Gavin was always the mastermind, but Michael had the voice and was always the first to stand up on an unsteady table, risking injury so he could yell directions and rules to everyone around. 

“So get your shirts and split into two teams. Don’t get pissy if we have to separate you from your friends or significant other if they’re uneven though,” he shrugged and then he was jumping down from the chair and nodding at Geoff and Jeremy who started carrying out buckets and setting four by each team. 

“Gav, you’re with me,” Trevor said, standing up and latching onto Gavin’s arm. 

“And I am not,” Ryan said, moving to where Michael and Jeremy were standing with their buckets of red and yellow balloons. Gavin looked down into the bins in front of his team with Geoff and Jack and found blue and green filling both. 

“Here Gav,” Michael said, stepping forward with a white t-shirt. He took it and tugged it on over his black one, too out of it to bother taking it off. 

“Alright, everyone load up,” Michael said carefully. “Get ready! Get set! Go!” and then it was chaos. 

The ground was instantly covered in paint, and a few people around Gavin were hit, cursing and tossing what they had before rushing to their buckets for more. There were shrill screams all around Gavin making him shrink and duck away from the girls on his team, choosing to grab Trevor’s hand and tug him toward the trees where they could take cover. 

“We gotta get Ryan right?” he asked when they were hidden.

“Yes,” 

Gavin saw him running toward Lindsay, a balloon held high in his hand and Gavin absolutely laughed his ass off when he watched Ryan smash it on her head like an egg, even though she was on Gavin’s team. He took the chance to throw what was in his hand, squawking when it exploded in his tight grip, showering his chest and neck in blue.

“Gavin, you’re supposed to get it on him, like this!” Trevor launched the balloon way too hard and while it missed Ryan, it didn’t miss the tree next to him, bursting into blue paint that had Ryan spinning around with wide eyes.

“You almost killed me babe!” Ryan called out, moving quickly toward where they were hiding.

“I missed though!” Trevor yelled back, running in the opposite direction.

Gavin was fully expecting Ryan to chase after his boyfriend but when he turned and found Gavin still hiding against the tree he didn’t even think twice before he was shoving a balloon into Gavin’s chest, laughing when it sprayed both of them. 

“Oh come on!” Gavin yelled, shoving at Ryan’s chest with his now yellow and blue hands. He moved out from behind the tree, risking getting caught in the crossfire for more balloons when he noticed Jeremy and Michael cornering Geoff, creeping up on him slowly while Geoff, unarmed, tried to cut some sort of alliance deal. He always pulled shit like that when they did this stuff and while Gavin would’ve loved to see him get got, that was also his teammate and he didn’t want to miss the opportunity to catch someone by surprise. 

“Geoff run!” he yelled, sprinting toward them with a balloon in his right hand. Jeremy looked over his shoulder at him just as he reached them, slamming his hand down on Jeremy’s backside as hard as he could and laughing when he cursed.

Geoff did as he was told, using the distraction to get far away from them until he was behind Gavin and patting him on the back as he went. Gavin was right behind him rushing back across the clearing.

“Come ‘ere Free!” Jeremy yelled, voice deep and menacing, the kind of voice he used when they were playing GTA together and Gavin sent a mugger after him. 

“Jeremy no!” Gavin yelled, stopping at the bucket to grab more ammo before rushing off to find someone else. 

Jack was in the perfect hiding spot, crouched low in a bush and if Gavin were a little drunker he definitely would’ve been on the ground laughing. He decided to ruin his perfect spot by running around behind him and using him as a human shield with Jeremy hot on his heels. 

“Jeremy!” Jack snapped when he was hit in the shoulder with red paint.

“That was meant for Gavin so blame him!”

“You fuck! You used me and gave away my location!”

Gavin was hit from behind, not even bothering to turn and look at who had hit him when Michael and Jeremy were standing right in front of him. He saw Trevor creeping up on someone from his science class and before he was really registering that he and Trevor were on the same team he was tossing one at his back and running away, but Trevor still turned around in time and yelled out a sharp “What the fuck Gavin!?”

“Friendly fire!” he called back. He didn’t even care if he pissed Trevor off. He had actually managed to throw one and hit somebody with it and that was worth being a traitor. 

He ran into Barbara when he finally lost the others and managed to catch his breath ducked behind a tree. 

“Hey Gav!” she beamed.

“Hey Babs,”

“Awesome party, as usual,” 

“Right?” was all he could say. He didn’t even register that Barbara was covered in blue and green paint until she was overhand  _ launching _ the balloon in her hand into Gavin’s chest and knocking him backwards.

“Suck it Free!” she flipped him off with both hands and dashed away. 

He was too busy laughing to actually be mad.

He stayed where he was for a long time, knowing if anyone caught him he’d never hear the end of ‘being a real life camper’ but there was too much going on and he couldn’t really tell who he was supposed to be throwing balloons at anymore. 

He finally stepped away from the tree, hoping that he could make it back to the bins by his team’s starting point without getting hit too many times but when he reached the buckets he looked over and almost shrieked. 

Trevor was leaning against a tree trunk with his head down and his eyes shut. His shirt and neck and face were  _ covered  _ in red paint. He looked like he had been brutally murdered and for a split second Gavin’s mind went through the possible scenario that he had been murdered and that this would be just like a movie. 

“Trevor?” he took a step closer. Slowly Trevor opened his eyes and let his head fall back so he could grin lazily up at Gavin. “You look like a corpse,” was all he said, kneeling down in front of his friend. 

“I feel like one Gavin,” he sounded like he was in a dream.

“What happened?”

“Kyle and Miles decided that Ryan’s life was more important than mine,” he had a disgusted look all over his red face.

“I see,” Gavin nodded. He was trying not to laugh in Trevor’s face. It seemed really upsetting to him. “So I’m guessing you never got him then?”

“Nope,” Trevor sighed. Someone near them screamed and they both winced before Trevor was reaching out and dropping his hand on Gavin’s knee. “You must avenge me,” 

Gavin couldn’t tell if he was just taking the piss at this point or if this was really as important to him as he was making it seem. “Only for you Trevor,”

“Go now!” he threw his hand out to the right. “Bring me his head!” he stuck his bottom lip out and brought his hand back down to rest on his hip before he seemed to realize his words. “But preferably attached to his body still!” 

“So really, you just want me to find and deliver him unharmed,”

“Maybe a little harmed, he didn’t save me either,” he crossed his arms over his chest. 

“I’ll see what I can do,”

It took him a while to find Ryan. He had been hit at least two more times by people close by and could definitely tell that he’d have some bruises tomorrow. He finally spotted Ryan engaged in some sort of stand off with Lindsay. It seemed she had come back for revenge by the all too eager look in her eye to pelt someone in the face. 

Neither of them noticed Gavin sneaking up on them, ducking behind trees and crouching into bushes. He didn’t step on a single twig and didn’t drag his feet through the leaves at all. He deserved a goddamn medal.

...Until he got hit in his left cheek and hit the ground. 

He felt like he had been sucker punched and had to take a minute to suck air in his lungs from the shock he was still feeling. 

“Sorry!” he couldn’t tell who had said it because he had still yet to open his eyes in fear of paint dripping into them. 

He had dropped the balloon in his hand somewhere between standing and falling and he could feel it seeping into the knees of his jeans. His shirt had already been covered so using that to wipe at his eyes was completely out of the picture as well and he was debating on using leaves he might’ve been able to feel out when there was a light hand on his shoulder, squeezing once when he jumped. 

“Sit still,” a voice he instantly recognized as Meg’s said. “Just so you know,” she started, “that looked absolutely fucking horrible and I congratulate you on surviving,” 

“Thanks,” he spoke quickly, not wanting to keep his mouth open for too long either incase the wet gooey mess on his nose and upper lip decided to slide inside. 

“I’m about to pour water on your face, so be ready,” she warned using the hand on his shoulder to guide him to lean back against the nearest tree. “You guys are all animals,” she scolded and then there was cool liquid being poured on his mouth and nose, freeing them from the smell of cheap paint. 

He waited until he felt her wipe his lips clean completely before he spoke. “Lindsay’s kicking ass,”

Slowly, Meg stopped swiping at the bottom half of his face and even with his eyes still screwed shut he knew it was because she was staring at her girlfriend somewhere around them. “Yeah, she’s great,”

“Turney?” he asked when she didn’t return to helping him after a few more moments. “Could you           save my eyes?”

“Oh right!” she laughed. A few moments later her fingers were pressing lightly against his eyelids, scooping the paint covering them away and rubbing at his wet face with her thumbs. “Should be good!” she said finally and Gavin cautiously opened his right eye, blinking a few times to make sure he was okay before he opened both and grinned up at her.

“Thanks!”

“See,” she smiled. “Much bet-” she was cut off when something hit her in the back. Gavin sucked in a breath when he saw her eyes widen and then immediately harden before she was swinging around in search of who had ruined her shirt. “Oh. My. God,”

“Meg, deep breath,” he tried but she wasn’t listening, moving toward the nearest bin, not caring what color she picked up before she was chucking it, quite impressively, toward a few kids laughing at her. She managed to hit one in the leg before she was grabbing another one and going to hide. 

At that point Gavin decided to call it quits, trudging his way back to where he last saw Trevor and kicking him in the foot. “Wake up,” he demanded, dropping himself down on Trevor’s lap.

“Ow! You’re too boney,” he whined but made no move to get Gavin off of him. 

“Your boyfriend was immune to my tricks,”

“That’s my Rye,”

“Hey! I’m quite offended, don’t be praising him,”

“Did you actually find him?”

“Yes! I just didn’t get to make contact,”

“Shame,”

“I’m sure he’ll find his way to you eventually,”

“He fucking better. I’ll chop his dick off,”

“Hey Trev?”

“Yeah?”

“You drunk?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. Gavin nodded and let himself fall off Trevor’s lap to sit next to him. 

In only a few more minutes it was down to the final two. Geoff on their team with a single green balloon versus Blaine on the other team, unarmed. They circled each other, trying to fake each other out for three minutes while everyone else watched on eagerly when finally Geoff tossed what he had and Blaine didn’t really even have to move to avoid getting hit, but when there was a small splash of blue on Blaine’s leg from where it popped against a tree and came back Geoff’s team were declared the winners.

There was cheering all around, people on both teams shouting out ‘Good game!’ and ‘Congrats’. People took their time taking off their once white shirts and laying them out to dry while others made their way towards the water bottles to clean up. 

“Blue and green team! Shots!” Geoff was screaming from the drink table. Gavin looked at Trevor who slowly made his way to his feet so Gavin followed. “MVP is pouring!” there were multiple chuckles and eye rolls at Geoff’s self proclaimed title but no one really cared when he started handing out tequila and vodka shots to anyone that held their hand out. 

“To us!” Geoff said holding a near empty bottle of water up and taking the rest down while everyone else gagged on their alcohol. 

“We didn’t contribute in any way,” Trevor whispered in Gavin’s ear right before he stepped forward to grab a bottle of vodka and drag Gavin back to their tree. 

They had just settled in and poured their second shots when Michael appeared next to him with a beer in his hand and a wide grin. His once grey t-shirt was now a mess of blue and green, even a little yellow and his neck was caked too. Gavin kind of thought he belonged in a museum. 

“You okay?” he asked. Gavin tilted his head at him. “I saw Kyle knock you down. Tried getting to you but Meg was already on the way,” 

“Oh!” so it had been Kyle. That made sense. “I’m good, thanks,”

“If it makes you feel any better, I may have participated in some friendly fire myself,”

“You? Friendly fire? For me? You shouldn’t have,” Gavin placed a hand over his heart before he reaching out to pluck Michael’s beer from his fingers and take a sip. 

“Did you like it?” Michael asked nonchalantly but Gavin could tell from the look in his eyes that he was genuinely nervous about Gavin’s answer.

“Absolutely. Great end to the night,” he nodded.

“End?” Michael and Trevor laughed.

“There’s more?”

“Well yeah? You think that’s everything?”

“You’re really pulling out all the stops huh?”

“Only for you,” he beamed. There was a splotch of yellow paint over where his dimple appeared and Gavin wanted to take a picture of him, keep it forever. 

“It’s too much boi, I’ll never be able to repay you,”

“You don’t have to, I just want you to be okay,” his voice was far too earnest for how silly all of it was. 

“I am,” he said quickly but Michael just raised a brow and tilted his head. “I will be,” he settled on finally and Michael nodded, accepting this. He stood up and ruffled Gavin’s hair for a second before he was stepping away and Trevor was shoving another shot in his hand.

“I got you something!” he announced. He looked more shocked than Gavin by the sudden remembrance. He pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and took out a gift card. “I need you to take Ryan shopping this summer. I can’t let him go to college with that wardrobe of his and you’re way better at that stuff than me,” 

“Thanks. I’ll make him look fabulous,”

“But not too fabulous!” Trevor said quickly. “I don’t need college boys hitting on my man,” 

“Well if you have to drive up there to fight some frat guys take me with you,”

“You won’t fight anyone,”

“No, but I’ll make a sign and cheer you on,”

“Works for me,”

Gavin took the silence that followed as a blessing. 

Things had gone back to normal, people nursing their final drinks of the night and standing around the fire, enjoying the warmth it was giving off and listening to the low music in the background. Things were starting to wind down and Gavin took a moment to just lean back and breathe.

He loved having a large group of people enjoying something he helped create, praising him and his friends for their hard work that really only took a few hours to correlate. He got to sit back and watch people dance and partake in games and drinks and food and talk to people that they normally didn’t communicate with in school. 

What he loved most though was when they’d start to depart. When something amazing would happen and people would grow exhausted from all the laughing and smiling and moving they did so they would make the rounds to say goodbye and head out. Eventually it would just be the original group and they’d all grab one final beer and gather round and there would be little spouts of conversation and laughter, but they’d eventually die down and they’d spend about an hour in silence, staring directly into the fire and watching it start to fade. 

A decent chunk of people were making those rounds now when Trevor spoke again.

“Dude,” his tone was serious when he turned to Gavin and smiled. “We’re gonna be the kings of the school next year,” 

“We kind of already were,”

“No no,” Trevor shook his head wildly. “We were just the princes. They were the kings,” he nodded over to where Ryan, Jack, Jeremy, Geoff and Michael were all standing together, talking to a few other kids from their grade. “Now it’s our turn,”

“We’ll just have to ask Jeremy if it’s okay for us to keep using his land,” Gavin joked. 

“I talked to him earlier actually. He said as long as they’re good and we still invite him, he doesn’t care,” 

To be honest he never really considered parties while the others were gone. He didn’t really think it was something that was possible but even with permission now, the thought felt wrong in his mind. Sure, he could still plan a great night and Trevor could go out and pick up everything Gavin told him to and they could set it up exactly how Gavin imagined it, but without the others there, it wouldn’t be a party. They brought personality and laughter and everyone greeted them on their way in and said goodbye on their way out. 

He also knew though that it would be what they wanted. 

They’d want to be able to call back on them and ask if they had thrown an amazing party and if they were enjoying themselves and eventually they’d be able to take some time and come home for one to surprise everyone else.

“Easy,” he shrugged.

Trevor poured them both another shot, and then one more, and then Gavin’s eyes were falling shut and he was letting his head drop forward. 

He didn’t know how much time had passed when he was being startled awake by someone tapping on his cheek. He opened his eyes to find Jack with a lighter in his hand and a smirk on his face.

“Oh no,”

“Oh yes,” he nodded. 

Gavin reached for his phone in his pocket and felt his eyes widen when he saw that it was nearing two thirty in the morning. While many people had already departed for the night, there was still a decent amount of people, definitely more than they usually had around this time. It seemed like after all the action of the paint fight most people were waiting to see if any other exciting things would happen. 

They would apparently if the glint in Jack’s eyes was anything to go by. 

“Clear out!” Michael yelled a moment later when the music was cut off again. People backed away from him and when Jack helped Gavin off the ground and walked over with him Gavin shook his head at the cases of fireworks that were on the ground. “Backup, backup,” Michael was saying until people were against the tree line and he was almost positive that no one would get hurt. He caught Gavin’s eye and winked just before lighting the first one.

It was loud, and the brightness hurt Gavin’s eyes just a little but he couldn’t stop the smile on his face when he lit another, and then another and then the boys were taking turns and people behind him were holding their phones out and ‘ooooo’ing and ‘ahh’ing at every single color that lit up the sky. Jeremy in particular let out a loud bellow when purple and orange shot into the sky and Gavin was sure everyone could hear his laughter over the loud popping. 

He made his way around the people standing next to him until he was standing with Trevor and Ryan right in front of the action. 

“Like it?” Ryan asked. He had one arm wrapped around Trevor’s shoulders, holding his boyfriend steady while he leaned against him with his eyes shut. Every now and then he’d open them and look up but it wasn’t long before he was snuggling back into Ryan’s side. 

“Love it!” he grinned. Trevor peaked his eye open to look at Gavin and nodded at him.

He stopped looking up soon after, choosing to watch Michael running around with a lighter, handing it off to Geoff or Jack and accepting it back again after. He was positively stunning, wide grin on his face and eyes alive and happy. And then he was turning and that happy face was looking at Gavin and he was holding a lighter out to him, reaching for the other one from Jeremy and making sure that Jack had one too. 

“Help us set off the finale?” he asked and Gavin stepped forward before his brain could process what he was just asked to do. He had never set off a firework before and if YouTube fails had taught him anything it was that he’d probably explode with it. He grabbed the lighter from Michael’s hand, and knelt down on the ground. “Just light the red stringy bit,” Michael instructed. Gavin nodded and waited until the others were ready before they were all leaning forward to light and boy was it actually quite difficult. 

The wind was blowing the flame back into Gavin’s thumb and while it wasn’t a horrible burn, it was still distracting and then Michael and Jack’s were lit and Gavin was standing too close and Jeremy was yelling “Abort, abort, abort!” at Gavin but he wasn’t paying attention because this was the damn finale and he wasn’t going to ruin it. 

“He’s got a death wish!” Trevor yelled when Gavin finally got it lit, just in time for an arm to wrap around his waist and pull him back. When he was standing up again Michael let go of his stomach in favor of taking his hand and running away and while Gavin would’ve loved to see the fireworks go off he was too caught up in getting to safety with Michael’s hand in his. 

The adrenaline was rushing through him when Michael finally stopped by a tree and turned to look at him.

“Remind me to never give you a lighter and a firework again,” Michael panted.

“That was so fun!” Gavin dropped both hands down on the redheads shoulders and jumped, yelling to be heard over the screaming of the fireworks above them. His had just gone off, catching the others in the middle of their launch and adding more light to the sky. He didn’t want to look away.

“You’re insane, didn’t you hear Jeremy telling you to abort mission?”

“Well yeah but it wasn’t lit yet,”

“You almost blew your head off,”

“Michael, come on boi, don’t be mad,” he stuck his bottom lip out and in seconds Michael’s eyes were going soft and he was reaching up with the hand that wasn’t still holding Gavin’s to touch his cheek. He looked down at Michael and found the other boy staring at him intently, like he was about to say something important, but decided against it when he looked away from Gavin.

“You’re an idiot,” he pinched his cheek and Gavin couldn’t help laughing while he pushed him away. “I can’t leave for college now, you’ll find a way to kill yourself,”

“It’ll be an accident though,” Gavin teased. 

“I need to be here to protect you,” he reached over to ruffle his hair. 

People around them were cheering and clapping and it was then that Gavin noticed it was over. The last color had faded and there was a big cloud of smoke drifting away from them and the others were picking up the garbage and throwing it away before they got too lazy later. 

Michael left him then, going to help while other people started moving around to grab coats and other belongings and start making their rounds for goodbyes. Gavin watched people for a minute, hugging and laughing, kissing people goodbye and making sure they had everything before stepping out into the woods and starting what would probably be a terrifying journey for most of them since there weren’t actually that many people that weren’t five or so drinks and shots deep.

He walked across the clearing to where he had left Michael’s jacket earlier and slid it on over his shoulders before he was making his way to the drink table and filling an empty cup with the last of the skittles from earlier and slipping into a crowd of people leaving. 

The walk back to Jeremy’s house was decent, loud and full of people tripping over rocks and twigs that left their more sober friends lunging to catch them and sighing in relief when the injuries they sustained were only minor cuts and scrapes. He couldn’t help laughing at them under his breath. 

He almost fell once or twice himself but managed to grab something nearby in time to steady himself and soon they were reaching Jeremy’s backyard and everyone was starting their walk home or climbing into their Uber or designated drivers car and taking off. 

Gavin took his skittle cup and walked to where Michael’s truck was parked in the driveway, trying not to grimace as the blades of grass left a cool dew on his ankles. He opened the tailgate and hopped onto it, pushing himself back so he could lay in the rough bed of Michael’s truck. He had gotten pretty used to it over the years, all odd angles and bits poking into his shoulder blades, but it still shocked him every now and then. 

His mind wasn’t as fuzzy as it had been at first after taking five or so victory shots with Trevor but he still found himself feeling a little overwhelmed with everything going on. 

He loved the fireworks, they were the perfect end to the night, at least he hoped that was the end because otherwise he was gonna have to throw one fucking hell of a party to repay everyone. He loved the little details his friends put into it, like the blue and white paper lanterns and lights lining their space because they were his favorite and the skittles and even the hammock even if he hadn’t been able to get in it yet.

They had pulled out every stop and he loved them more for it, but when the fireworks were done and he was watching people leave he couldn’t help feeling like that was it. It was over. Hallelujah Night done. In the morning they’d all clean up their mess and stumble their way back to Jeremy’s house where they’d load up Michael’s truck with the garbage and go inside to sleep for a few hours and then they’d make breakfast at three in the afternoon and go their separate ways. 

He just needed some air and a minute to think when he heard someone coming his way. He knew before they bent over the side of the bed and looked down at him that it would be Michael, no doubt coming to find him after so many others had departed and he was among the missing.

“You okay?” his eyebrows were knit together and Gavin wanted to reach out with his thumb and smooth them out. 

“Yeah, just wanted some air,” he sat up and picked some skittles out of his cup, popping them into his mouth and chewing them slowly. 

“Do you want me to leave?”

“No no, it’s your truck, you can stay,”

“Good point,” Michael smiled. He hopped up in the bed and let his feet dangle over the side. Gavin slid forward until he was next to him, sides pressed together and feet swinging. Michael looked over at him and laughed. “You’ve got some paint behind your ear,” he reached out to touch the spot and Gavin closed his eyes. Michael was warm against him, even through the jacket he could feel Michael’s body heat radiating, like it was reaching out for him specifically.

“You’re one to talk,” he reached out and poked Michael’s dimple where there was still a splotch. Michael grinned at him then and Gavin’s finger sank into it. 

Michael reached over and took a handful of skittles, putting one in his mouth at a time and taking his time. Gavin joined him. They kicked their feet and worked their way through the cup for at least ten minutes before Michael was taking the empty cup from Gavin’s hand and throwing it behind them in the truck to be dealt with later. 

“So,” he started, dropping his hand down over Gavin’s. “Wanna talk about it?” 

“No,” Gavin said quickly. He knew this conversation would happen eventually. He would be asked constantly if he was enjoying himself and the party, but eventually, someone, meaning Michael, was going to ask him about the real reason this had all been done. 

“Gav,”

“Michael, come on, this has been an awesome night,” he attempted to curl in on himself but Michael was quick, angling his body toward Gavin’s and grabbing both of his hands with his.

“But?” he prompted. When Gavin didn’t answer right away he sighed. “Come on, let me ease your mind some more,”

“Michael, you’ve honestly done more than enough,”

“Then what’s going on?”

“It’s just shitty,” he shrugged. “I’m gonna be fine, it’s just gonna take time to really accept it, but… I think this was a good start,” and he supposed it was. If anything this just proved to him how much his friends really  _ did  _ love him and if they had put all this effort into just one night he knew they would give their all between classes and homework sessions as well. He would have to too. 

“Don’t forget, you and I start working together in two weeks,”

“Yeah,” Gavin nodded. They had worked at the library together the year before and absolutely loved it. They had two weeks left of summer when Michael told him they had to do it again next year and so they had, calling up a few weeks prior to ask if they needed help and going out for celebratory cheese fries when they were informed that they were both added to the list of summer employees. 

“It’ll be fun. We can hang out everyday. With everyone else too. And then when the school year starts we’ll all be home on vacations and in the summer and on weekends,”

“Yeah,” Gavin nodded. He couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face when Michael squeezed his hands and kept going.

“And as soon as we graduate we’ll all buy that huge mansion together,”

“Like we planned two years ago,” Gavin laughed.

“Just like we planned,” he nodded. “And everytime I come back you’re spending the night at my house and we can go to dinner and make the most of it and I’ll even take you up there for a weekend every now and then so you can see the shamble of a dorm I’m living in,” he was rambling now.

“Can’t wait,” 

“Yes you can,” Michael said. 

“You’re right, I can,” 

“If I’m being honest, I can too,”

Gavin couldn’t really pinpoint his tone but he knew it wasn’t a light joking one like it had been a second ago. The air around them grew thick. “Are you worried?”

“What?” Michael tilted his head.

“Are you worried? You’ve been so busy reassuring me I never even asked if you were okay too,”

He was glad that Michael didn’t answer right away, letting go of one of his hands so he could face forward again, looking at the dark house across the street. “You want the honest answer or the ‘I don’t want you to worry’ answer?” 

“Hmm, honest,” Gavin rolled his eyes. Like there was any real question. 

Michael sighed. “I’m petrified,”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, you still have Trevor and the same people you’ve had since the start. I’ve got people from all over the country and none of my friends,”

“Michael I-”

“I’m not saying this to make you feel bad,” he squeezed the hand he was still holding, thumb rubbing over the back of it. “You told me to be honest so I’m being honest. You still have every right to be scared too. But not too scared because I am coming back for you,”

“Maybe I’ll learn how to drive for you,” Gavin offered. Michael smiled.

“That’s a big commitment. Don’t say it if you don’t mean it,” 

“Well I’m sure I could always take the train to you,”

“There we go. I expect you to. You can surprise me during finals weeks and I’ll surprise you when I come back for your senior prom,”

“Well now I won’t be surprised,” Gavin laughed. Michael rolled his eyes at him.

“Nah, you’ll forget all about it and then when it’s time I’ll tell you I can’t make it and you’ll be all bummed out. You’ll probably consider skipping the whole thing together and then I’ll show up in my suit and you’ll cry,”

“Yeah, cause I’m stuck with you for the night,” Gavin elbowed him in the side. Michael swatted at him with his free hand, nose scrunching up. Gavin was just glad that things were lighter now. Glad that neither of them actually seemed that scared right now. He knew they’d talk more about it as they got closer to actual ‘move into the dorms’ day but they had time.

“No! You’ll cry from my beauty,” Michael protested.

“And if I don’t, you’ll just punch me in the arm,”

“That was one time! On accident!”

“You abused your best friend Michael! The one you love!”

“And I said I was sorry for like a month,”

“Maybe I never forgave you,”

“So this is it? You’re gonna make me go away to college feeling guilty?”

“I’m sure you’ll do that all by yourself,” 

Michael didn’t answer him again and Gavin took the opportunity to look over at him, face heating up when he found Michael already looking at him. “You know, before tonight I was starting to forget what you looked like when you smiled,”

“Oh sod off!” Gavin threw his head back this time, genuine laugh escaping his lips. When he looked back down he found Michael still staring at him. He was smiling, and his eyes were soft but also… calculating. Gavin felt his own grin start to diminish until it was a small smirk on his face, Michael watched it go down, eyes staying on Gavin’s mouth a moment too long before he was looking back into his eyes. He felt something coiling in his gut. “We should probably get back, don’t want the other’s thinking I ditched my own night,” he said, pushing himself off the truck and releasing Michael’s hand. 

“Yeah,” Michael said behind him. “We should,” but he made no move to get off the truck. 

Gavin decided he’d lead the way, taking a step toward the front of the truck when he heard a small thud behind him and without turning around he knew it was Michael’s feet hitting the ground. 

“Hey Gavin?” 

“Yeah,” he turned back. 

Michael was moving before Gavin could even register it, wrapping one hand around the back of Gavin’s neck and yanking him forward into a kiss. His other hand found its way to his hip and squeezed.

Gavin had imagined this moment many times in the last few years. Usually it was paired with a daydream about them going on an actual date or Michael kissing him one night when they beat their friends in a Halo match, but not like this. He had spent a lot of time imaging the exact feel of Michael’s lips against his, if he would be experienced, if we was as aggressive a kisser as he was a person. 

This was better than any daydream. 

It was passionate and hard, lips moving against Gavin’s without hesitation, like they had already done this a million times. He wondered if Michael had imagined it too, if this lived up to it if he had. 

The heat of his body against Gavin’s was making his knees weak and when Michael’s tongue ran across Gavin’s bottom lip they buckled. Michael was quick to move them, turning his body and taking a step forward so Gavin was pinned between his body and his truck. His hand slid down Gavin’s neck and shoulder, slowly down his arm over his brown jacket, stopping briefly to squeeze Gavin’s wrist before it joined his other hand on Gavin’s hips, fingers pressing into the dimples at the bottom of his back, thumbs digging into his front.

Gavin fisted his hands in Michael’s shirt, trying to pull him impossibly closer but Michael just chuckled against his lips and pulled away to suck in a breath. 

“Gavin,” he panted. His lips were red and puffy and Gavin couldn’t look away from them, especially when Michael’s tongue poked out to lick at them. He didn’t even want to think about how he might’ve looked right now. “Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do that?” his eyes were dark and when Gavin looked into them he instantly felt their heat. 

“Probably just as long as I’ve wanted you to,” he offered dumbly. 

He was suddenly thankful for his short nap and the many bottles of water and food that had been forced into his hands throughout the night because he would definitely want to remember this in the morning and know that he made all of his choices completely on his own without any liquid courage. His mind wasn’t fuzzy anymore, only focusing on Michael standing in front of him and he knew Michael only had a couple drinks because of everything they had going on and needing to make sure it went off without a hitch. 

“I’m glad I didn’t wait until the day I left to do that,” Michael said finally. 

“I would’ve killed you,” Michael wasn’t even trying to pretend that he wasn’t only staring at Gavin’s lips now, and he knew they both wanted more. 

He didn’t give Michael the chance to come up with something else to say before he was tugging Michael back to him, surging forward to meet him halfway. 

This one was just as intense, but slower, lips moving languidly and tongues exploring. Michael’s hands found their way under Gavin’s shirt so they could rest on the skin there stroking at his hips and Gavin could feel his muscles jumping under them from the sudden tickle. 

When Gavin bit Michael’s bottom lip gently the older boy pulled back, not giving Gavin a second to look at him before he was attaching his mouth to Gavin’s neck and sucking lightly but it was too much and Gavin was quick to pull him back, not wanting to forget the feel of Michael’s lips so soon after having just gotten it. 

Michael’s hands abandoned Gavin’s hips in favor of pushing his jacket off of Gavin’s shoulders and back into the bed of the truck behind him. 

“Well it’s about Goddamn time!” someone behind them yelled. 

Michael was off of him in an instant turning around to find Lindsay moving slowly toward them, a very intoxicated Meg hanging off of her arm. She was stumbling with every step and it seemed that she was at the point of drunk where her head was just too heavy to support so she’d let it slam this way or that before remembering that she had something to say and dragging it back up. 

“Sorry, she’s plastered,” Lindsay did look quite sorry, face scrunching up when Michael took a step forward to help her.

“I called it!” Meg squealed, not even stopping when all of them shushed her. “I told everyone! People owe me money! Where’s Jeremy?” she started looking around but she didn’t get the chance to move back toward the backyard before Michael was picking her up and letting Lindsay lead them to her car down the street. 

She started squirming in his arms and thumping at his back, demanding he put her down so she could collect her winnings. Gavin couldn’t help laughing at her. She probably thought she looked like a fierce lion but he thought she just looked like a tiny kitten. 

By the time they had reached Lindsay’s car and got Meg buckled into the front seat she had completely dropped her anger and was instead praising Michael on ‘finally getting your fucking shit together’ and trying to reach him out the car window when Lindsay started the car and rolled it down in case she puked.

She got back out and walked over to where they were standing on the curb. 

“Congrats, on an awesome party, and I guess, this other new development,” she wiggled her eyebrows.

“Thanks, and congrats on getting to deal with that mess tonight,” Michael laughed gesturing toward Meg’s flailing arm.

“Hey!” she shouted before crossing her arms over her chest and pouting.

“Yeah, I better get her in bed- not like that you perv!” She swatted at Michael’s arm when he made an obscene gesture with his tongue. “Have a good night, see you Monday,”

“Bye Lindsay,” Gavin waved and then they were pulling away and Michael and Gavin were starting their walk back to Jeremy’s house. While he really wanted to spend… well… a million years kissing Michael, he also knew they had been gone for quite some time. “We really should head back now,”

“Fine,” Michael whined, but he took Gavin’s hand and they began the trek back to where the others were. 

They didn’t talk much aside from the ‘watch your step’ or ‘duck’ and Gavin had always assumed they would have some huge declaration and conversation but now that it was all out there and they had just spent a decent amount of time attached at the lips he found that they really didn’t need to. 

Michael’s warm hand in his was more than enough for right now. 

When they got back they found a few more people lounging around, dozing off in camping chairs by the fire and when Gavin checked the time and saw that it was just under four in the morning he knew soon the remaining the guests would be woken up and asked to leave.

“There you two are! Were you off fucking in the woods?” Geoff joked when he noticed them. 

Jeremy was sitting nearby with an arm slung around Kat’s shoulders with Jack and Caiti. Trevor and Ryan were leaning against a tree while Ryan fiddled around with his laptop. When neither one of them answered and he knew for a fact his face had to be bright red and Michael’s probably matched Geoff’s eyes widened.

“Holy shit,” it was deadpan but it still brought their friend’s attention to them and then Geoff was letting out a loud cackle and Jeremy was giving them a big ‘Hap hap!’ and throwing his hands in the air. 

“Good luck,” Michael stepped away from him, going to join Jeremy and Jack and when Gavin looked over and saw Ryan’s eyes on him, brow raised in question he knew if he didn’t go spill every detail he would get an earful. Even Trevor had opened his eyes and was sipping slowly from a bottle of water, and Gavin knew how quickly he got tired and tried to pass out on them when he drank, but the determination in his eyes only told Gavin he would not let himself fall asleep just yet.

He took a deep breath and started making his way over, knowing for sure Geoff would join them soon and no one else there cared enough to insert themselves into their love lives. 

~~~

He found Michael some time later swinging in the hammock. His eyes were closed and his hands were resting on his stomach and even though most everyone else had left there was still music playing low on the speakers and Gavin could hear Michael humming along to it when he approached. 

“Got room for one more?” 

Michael blinked his eyes open and smiled lazily up at him. “Of course boi,” he started to shift over but Gavin didn’t give him time to before he was crawling in on top of Michael, settling himself between his legs. He crossed his arms over Michael’s chest and let his chin rest on top of them. 

“Comfortable?” Michael laughed. When Gavin nodded Michael brought his hands up to rest on Gavin’s back before they were moving down to his bare arms, tracing nonsensical patterns on his skin. “Good,” he said finally. He closed his eyes again and let the one leg of his that was now dangling off the side of the hammock from Gavin stealing all it’s room, to push them to come to a slow swing. 

“So, all in all do you feel better?” 

It took him a minute to answer and Michael didn’t push him to. He didn’t want to say no, because he did, a significant amount actually, because what was bugging him earlier was that all in all, everything would be the same. The longer he had thought about that though the more he realized was that everything was always the same. 

Jeremy’s mom had still passed away, Geoff still got his heartbroken and Ryan’s parents still split up. In a few months they would still be leaving and Gavin and Trevor would still be starting their senior year without the others. While that still bummed him out, he knew that it was just something he was going to have to accept.

“I think so,”

“So the night wasn’t a complete waste?” 

Gavin leaned forward to press a kiss to the corner of Michael’s mouth. “Not a bit,”

“Good,” a lazy smile spread across Michael’s face. His eyes fell shut for a few seconds and Gavin took his time looking over his face. He had memorized it years ago, every freckle and blemish. The small scar above his left eyebrow from where he had fallen on a Lego when he was younger. He reached out to trace Michael’s cheekbones, letting his fingers ghost above his skin. His eyes blinked open and caught Gavin’s. Gavin’s fingers fell to Michael’s lips, tracing the curve of his bottom one. His mind felt fuzzy again, but not from intoxication, this was all Michael. 

Michael brought one of his hands off of Gavin’s arms to cup his cheek, thumb stroking along the top just under his eye. Gavin brought his fingers down to Michael’s neck, letting them rest over his pulse point. He closed his eyes and dropped his head back on Michael’s chest, feeling his heartbeat both against his ear and fingertips. 

“Take a nap with me, we’ve still got some time before day,” Michael mumbled eventually. His voice was thick, syrupy. Gavin nodded and slid off of him, curling into his side when Michael laid his arm out for Gavin to use as a pillow. He closed his eyes and before he knew it he was being woken up by someone peppering kisses on his face. He pushed Michael away from him and blinked his eyes open. 

“What?” he whined. He was getting real tired of people fucking with his naps. 

“The final guests are leaving,” he nodded his chin over to where Adam and Joel were hugging Geoff goodbye. Caiti and Kat were kissing their boyfriends goodbye and promising that they would text one of them when they got to Kat’s house safely. 

“What time is it?” he asked when he was done yawning. 

“About five,”

“Yay,” Gavin yawned again.

“Do you want me to wake you up again when it’s time?”

“No, no, I should be awake,”

“You’re cute when you sleep though,” 

“No one looks cute when they sleep,” 

Michael rolled his eyes and leaned over to kiss Gavin, soft and short.

“Hey! Not in my hammock!” Jeremy’s loud voice broke the moment. Gavin jumped, almost falling off of the hammock completely. 

“You said it was for me,” Gavin stuck his tongue out at him.

“I paid for it and it’s on my property, you’re free to use it as much as you want next year for nonsexual activities,”

“Oh please, like you haven’t been thinking of getting Kat on it all night,” Michael teased. Jeremy’s entire face went red and he was quick to turn around to make sure Kat was gone before he walked to the drink table.

“Grab a beer assholes, we’ve got an hour until sun,” he called out. Ryan nudged at Trevor’s arm until he opened his eyes and got his wits about him. He nodded toward where Jeremy was dropping into a chair and popping a can open. Geoff and Jack were making their way over from where they had been sitting, playing some game on their phones and trying to distract each other when it was their turn. 

“Come on,” Michael tapped on Gavin’s leg. Gavin got off the hammock pretty ungracefully and Michael had to shift all of his weight to the other side so it didn’t flip with him on it. “Christ boi,” he gasped and Gavin let out a loud squawk, hands clapping together, far too loud in the now quiet woods. 

The music had been cut, the lights shut off and the sky had turned to a dark blue, less stars visible than earlier. They each set up a chair around the fire but when Gavin went to sit in his there was a tug on his arm and he was brought down on Michael’s lap. There was a whistle from one of their friends but Gavin couldn’t tell who because he was too busy staring at the ground while his face went red. They did this all the time, but he didn’t know why he was so worried about this in front of the others. When Michael’s hand came to rest on his knee and gave a reassuring squeeze he finally relaxed and let himself take a breath. 

This was the best part of the night. He loved when people’s skin appeared orange and their eyes reflected flames. The fire had calmed down significantly in the last few hours since they stopped adding to it and Gavin knew it probably had about thirty minutes left before it went out completely. But for now he just liked sitting around with his friends in a warm embrace, smile never fading while he sipped at his final drink of the night and looked back on the highlights.

“Geoff, I still can’t believe you got Blaine,”

“It was a lot of hard work and bravery on my part but someone had to take down the beast,”

“Oh please, you got lucky,”

“Luck had nothing to do with it Jackson!”

“Just be glad you were on the winning team,” Jeremy pouted. “It doesn’t look good for your rep when you lose,” 

“Oh what fucking rep?” Michael rolled his eyes. “We graduate in a week, all anyone’s gonna talk about is the epic final party,”

“That’s true,” Geoff pointed at him. “And they’ll remember my victory shot,”

“Oh Jesus Christ,” Michael took a long sip of his beer before reaching out toward the six pack Jack had brought over. Jack ended up pulling one out and handing it to him so he didn’t knock himself and Gavin over into the fire. 

“Gavin, Trevor, tell em,” 

“No,” Trevor said, curling into Ryan’s side as much as he could with two chair arms between them. 

“Bias! Gav- oh you can’t either now,” he wiggled his brows. “Jack! Tell them how proud you are,”

“I can’t, my girlfriend got covered in green and blue paint and is still a little upset about her sweater,”

“God, you guys suck dick,” 

They were quiet for a few minutes, sipping at their drinks and staring at the fire before Geoff jumped up and rushed away only to come back moments later to show their curious eyes what he had. “I got this cool fire shit,”

“‘Cool fire shit,’” Michael repeated using air quotes. 

“Yeah, it makes the fire change color, I got it at the firework store,”

“Then by all means,” he swept his hand out toward the fire careful not to spill the beer he was holding in it. 

“We just can’t cook anything with it,”

“It’s not like we have fucking s’mores, throw it in,” Michael snapped. 

Geoff did as he was ordered and in a few minutes the flames were green and they were all leaning forward to watch. 

Gavin looked around at them and tried to hold in his laughter. Maybe it was the exhaustion or the alcohol they had consumed but they all looked excited, like kids on Christmas and Gavin’s heart felt warm. 

The green was replaced by purple a few minutes later and lastly a bright blue before it was going away completely. Gavin barely noticed though. He took a peak at each of the colors as they were added in but eventually he’d let his head fall back against Michael’s shoulder while he watched the last of the night fade away. His eyes would try to slip shut every few minutes but he was quick to snap them back open so he could try regaining focus above him.

“So Gavin,” Jeremy’s voice broke the peace. Gavin tried to keep his eyes open, shaking his head when he turned his exhausted gaze on him. Everyone was looking at him now. “Was this a Hallelujah Night?”

He took a slow look around the fire pit, embers fading to a dull orange. Trevor was leaning against Ryan’s shoulder, eyes half shut but trained on Gavin. Ryan was watching him silently, fully alert and waiting patiently. Geoff and Jack both had their heads tilted toward him, necks and arms still covered in dry cracking paint and Michael’s hands were warm on his stomach, rubbing up and down every few seconds. 

He supposed when it really came down to it, whether it completely cured his worries or not, this was his night.They all worked together to bring something to him that he knew was them pouring their love into a party, one they wanted everyone to enjoy, but they really only cared about Gavin’s smile and laughter. 

Really it had only proven to them how much this meant to all of them as well. He wasn’t the only one that loved hanging out with them, he wasn’t the only one that would miss them and he found that while he was sad they were leaving, he was even more excited for all the times they’d come back _.  _ All the things they would have to cram into a weekend whenever someone came back to their town, their families and significant others. Back to  _ him. _

“You know what Lil J?” he said finally. They were all still looking at him, patient while he gathered his thoughts, “I think it was,” 

They all held their drinks up, most of them empty or on the last dregs, and pushed them together before downing whatever was left or at least pretending to and when Gavin leaned back against Michael’s chest and felt him press a light kiss against his neck from behind he found that he really wasn’t lying.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
